Sandy Sets New Agenda for Christie

By

Heather Haddon

Updated Jan. 6, 2013 9:42 p.m. ET

TRENTON—Gov. Chris Christie spent his first three years in office pushing through a fiscal and education agenda that has made him a polarizing figure here in the capital and a rising Republican star nationally.

Now, the 50-year-old governor is embarking on the final year of his first term from a different posture—managing the hand dealt to him.

In an interview ahead of his State of the State address Tuesday, Mr. Christie said rebuilding New Jersey in the wake of superstorm Sandy would be his primary focus this year as he faces re-election.

More accustomed to charging toward a goal than reacting to events, the strident governor said it is his job to help bring back the state and that he hopes to do so within two years.

"It's much different stylistically for me. I'm not necessarily a reactive type of person," said Mr. Christie, during a half-an-hour interview in the Statehouse on Friday. "But I'm looking forward to the challenge. Even if I wasn't, it's my responsibility. You just got to get to work."

ENLARGE

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the Statehouse in Trenton on Friday.
Bloomberg News

Helping the state rebuild is a more bipartisan task for a governor known for advancing core conservative policies such as cutting taxes and fighting public-employee unions. But, political analysts said, the recovery from the Oct. 29 storm will still involve political decisions—including how far the state goes to protect itself from future storms and how it involves counties and townships in the rebuilding.

Mr. Christie is frequently discussed as a possible Republican presidential candidate for 2016, but he denied in the interview any plans to run for the White House. He said he intends to serve four years if re-elected in November.

Still, his recovery efforts will likely be viewed under a microscope, said Ben Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

"Every misstep will be highlighted. That's the natural way of national politics," Mr. Dworkin said.

Mr. Christie is known for laying out an agenda at the beginning of each year, and then entering hard negotiations with the Democrat-controlled Legislature. This tactic has largely worked: He counted seven major legislative achievements in his first term, including bills to increase benefit contributions among state workers, change tenure rules for public schoolteachers and merge several state universities.

But Sandy has already caused Mr. Christie to alter course. Despite being a prominent surrogate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Mr. Christie embraced President Barack Obama after the storm caused an estimated $37 billion in damage to the state.

Last week, Mr. Christie again bucked his party in publicly excoriating House Speaker John Boehner for not allowing a vote on a $60 billion Sandy relief aid package. Hours after Mr. Christie's statements Wednesday, Mr. Boehner pledged votes on two aid bills.

Mr. Christie demurred when asked if his tough talk helped get the bills posted. He said he discussed his comments beforehand with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo—who supported them—and Mr. Christie since hasn't gotten pushback from important Republicans.

"We got a few stray emails out-of-state in the office but certainly not from …leaders in the party," said Mr. Christie.

The governor said he will be counting on "friends from around the country" as he raises money for his re-election campaign this year. Mr. Christie wouldn't say whether he would seek public matching funds, as he did in his 2009 race against former Gov. Jon Corzine.

State Sen. Barbara Buono is the only Democrat who has declared a candidacy for governor, and Mr. Christie has nearly nine times as much campaign cash as she does, according to campaign reports last week.

Mr. Christie said he isn't taking the race for granted but expects to have fewer campaign events this time because of the demands of being governor. In 2008, Mr. Christie resigned as the U.S. attorney for the state before he filed his candidacy.

"I have the job of being governor in the midst of the rebuilding and recovery of the biggest storm that's ever hit the state," Mr. Christie said about the campaign. "It's challenging in a different way."

Bill Palatucci, a longtime adviser to Mr. Christie, said he wasn't worried about going into the campaign with the governor playing a more managerial role in New Jersey instead of driving an agenda.

"It boils down to leadership, whether he's proactive and reactive," Mr. Palatucci said about Mr. Christie's governance. "People want someone who is clear-headed and communicative and moving the state forward. That's his appeal."

In the coming weeks, Mr. Christie said he intends to propose regulations to help towns rebuild to withstand inevitable future storms, including abiding by revised flood advisory maps released last month by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But Mr. Christie—who has generally fought against stringent state regulations—said he wants Jersey Shore towns to maintain their charm by keeping much of the rebuilding process on the local level.

"If I mandate a one-size-fits-all, homogenized view from Trenton, we're going to have a shore that looks all the same. I don't want that," said Mr. Christie, who grew up going to the shore.

By July 4, Mr. Christie hopes to have some of the shore's summer properties, amusement rides and businesses up and running.

But some of the hardest-hit towns won't fully come back until 2014, Mr. Christie said, and he's anticipating New Jersey will suffer a loss in tourism revenue. Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno is preparing an advertising campaign to promote the shore in response, he said.

Citing a proverb from his mother, Mr. Christie said he focuses on the job at hand and lets the future come as it will.

"You never know where life is going," said Mr. Christie, with a mix of Bruce Springsteen and classic rock playing in the background in his office. "You just do the best job you can…your future will take care of itself."

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